ASIC says 'extremely powerful' banks 'not used to being taken on'

ASIC considers action against CBA The corporate regulator will investigate whether the CBA's board complied with continuous disclosure laws when it decided not to alert investors to suspicious behaviour.

ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft says addressing culture and conduct at Australia's big banks will remain unfinished business when his term ends in November. The corporate regulator took aim at the nation's four major banks on Tuesday, saying they were very powerful with "a lot of hubris" and were "not used to being taken on" by regulators

Mr Medcraft, who was speaking at a Reuters event in Sydney, said he was "not scared of anybody" as he emphasised the need for bigger penalties for white-collar criminals.A 2014 Senate inquiry stated that ASIC was perceived to be "timid" and "hesitant". It was also seen as weaker compared with Western regulators in terms of the small fines it levied and other penalties it imposed.

ASIC is now trying to rebuild confidence, in part by taking three of Australia's biggest banks - ANZ Banking Group, Westpac Banking Corp and National Australia Bank - to court after failing to reach a settlement over allegations of benchmark interest rate rigging.

The latest incident to rock Australia's highly profitable "Big Four" banks is potentially the worst, with CBA accused last month by the nation's financial intelligence agency of allowing criminals to launder millions of dollars.